“We deal with the odd, the unexplained, anything on Earth... or beyond”

After six years of monochrome adventuring through time and space ‘Spearheads from Space’ sees Doctor Who undergo a complete transformation. Now broadcast in glorious colour (assuming, that is, you had a colour television in 1970) the entire format of the show was radically altered in order to keep production costs down as well as make the series grittier and more grown up. Taking inspiration from the likes of Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass serials outgoing producer Derrick Sherwin wanted to get away from ‘wobbly jellies in outer space’ by bringing the show crashing back down to earth.

Epic in both length and content ‘The War Games’ is, in this humble fan’s opinion, the best Patrick Troughton story that still exists in its entirety. Bringing to an end one era of the show while neatly setting the stage for the next, this would be the final story in black and white, the last story of the 1960s and final regular appearance of Second Doctor and his ever faithful companions, Jamie and Zoe.